child soldiers Archives

Obama’s Child Soldiers

“When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia. “He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. “Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do—I didn’t want to die.” This is the … Continue reading

Getting It Wrong in Guantánamo

I was at Guantánamo Bay prison on Halloween. In a ghoulishly fitting coincidence, that was the same day a former child soldier was convicted for war crimes for the first time since the end of World War II. Eight years and one day after Omar Khadr arrived at Guantánamo, his military commission case concluded with … Continue reading

Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts ‘Publicity Nightmare’

With tongue in cheek, constitutional experts congratulated the U.S. government Tuesday for negotiating a plea deal with Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, thus avoiding a trial in the military commission “puppet theater” of a defendant who was just 15 at the time of his offenses. Details of the plea deal are not yet fully known, but … Continue reading